Higher One has partnered with Saint Charles Community College to help electronically distribute Financial Aid and other refund disbursements to students.

With the new system, Saint Charles students log on to a secure Web site and choose how they wish to receive their refund in either a direct deposit to the OneAccount or an automated transfer to a bank account of their choice.

When it comes time for disbursements to be made, a file is sent from college to Higher One that includes student names and the total amount of each refund. An accompanying wire is also routed for the amount of the total disbursement. Higher One then distributes the refunds to each student based on which refund option they selected.

Refunds at community college were previously distributed to students by paper check, a labor- intensive process of printing checks and stuffing them into envelopes. The new system will also help alleviate costs of paper stock, ink, envelops, postage, and the labor for both the production and customer service inquiries.